Electricity is frequently the major component of residential, commercial and industrial utility bills. In spite of this fact many, if not most, home and business owners are unaware of how much electricity individual electrical devices actually consume. Currently, utility bills sent to consumers provide only monthly electrical usage in KWH (kilowatt hours) for a customer location. With the advent of “smart meters” more detail may become available to consumers, such as electricity consumed during particular hours of the day. Nonetheless, information contained in utility bills will not enable the consumer to calculate the energy usage of individual electrical devices. In most cases the only means currently available to derive this information is to physically examine each device for the presence of power usage information (e.g. voltage, amps or watts) on the exterior of the device. Such information though generally present, may be difficult to interpret for various reasons. One reason is that depending on the age of the device, power information may appear in various formats or be incomplete. Another reason is that the power information may appear in a small font surrounded by a large body of unrelated text making it difficult to decipher. Yet another reason is that the power usage information may appear in a location on the device that is difficult to access or where lighting is poor, such as the back of a washing machine. These are just a few examples of problems consumers may face. Estimating the power usage of a particular electrical device is a difficult task even for those consumers knowledgeable in the basics of electricity and willing to make the effort to read the labels attached to their electrical appliances.